Arsenal confirm shock defensive midfield transfer move

It has been one of the most frequent complaints from Arsenal fans about the transfer dealings of the manager, with most football pundits also identifying the lack of a proper defensive midfielder as one of the major weaknesses in the Gunners team.

So it is a bit of a surprise to see on the official Arsenal website that Arsene Wenger is allowing one of the few players he does have to fill that position, Francis Coquelin, to transfer to the Championship club Charlton Athletic. The Frenchman has only played one game for Arsenal this season, in the Capital One cup, but after the boss decided in the summer to keep him at the club rather than find another loan deal for him, it looked like he would get some game time.

Maybe this loan deal to Charlton, which is for a month, is intended to sharpen Coquelin up so he is available to play if called upon. Maybe Wenger has the busy christmas period in mind and maybe the return to fitness of Aaron Ramsey has convinced the manager that he does not need Coquelin just at the minute. Hopefully he will come back in good form and finally be able to play his part for Arsenal.